Alone No More 4: The Continental Drift
by Grantourer
Summary: When the continental drift occurs Buck and William are sent out to sea on yet another treacherous adventure. Their friendship will be tested as they travel through the seemingly endless ocean and fight pirates and occasional each other, along the way they will meet both old and new friends, new enemies, and in Bucks case, a possible new mate. Adventure/Friendship/romance
1. Chapter 1

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios

* * *

It was a seemingly normal day for Buck, he woke up, had breakfast, fought a few dinosaurs, and now he was fighting his arch nemesis, Rudy. He got up on the back of the great white beast and screamed "YEEEEEHAAAAW!" As he happily battled the monster, but he suddenly heard a scream, and it was approaching fast, and Rudy heard it too and they both momentarily paused as the screaming object, a grey ball of fur, quickly fell past them and further underground. "Wot was tha?" He asked to no one in particular, then he heard more screaming and yelling.

"BUCK!" William came bursting through the bushes, and Rudy growled angrily at him. "YOU SHUT YOUR TRAP BEFORE I STAB YOUR EYES OUT!" Rudy, now noticing that William was in a very bad mood decided to just leave, he did not like being around him when all he'd do was angrily yell at him and easily dodge all his attacks and attempts to shut him up. Buck, however, sensing that William had important news launched himself off Rudy and landed in front of William.

"Ya got somethin important on ya mind?"

"YES, WE HAVE TO GO NOW, YOU'VE WAITED TILL THE LAST MINUTE AND HERE WE ARE, THE CONTINENTS ARE ABOUT TO SPLIT, IF WE DON'T LEAVE NOW WE COULD BE CRUSHED TO DEATH!" William yelled frantically.

Buck let this sink in, William had been warning him about this for the past month, but he was so attached to this place and his rivalry with Rudy that he kept pushing his departure back. "Let me get my wife first" But before William could respond the ground began to shake and rumble.

"Oh no, oh god, its happening, WE NEED TO GO NOW, TIMES UP!"

Buck was horror struck, everything he knew and loved was about to be destroyed, but he had to leave or he'd be killed, he just looked at William and sadly nodded in agreement as the two weasels started to sprint towards the exit. As they ran chunks of ice began to fall and the pillars that held everything up began to crumble as the dinosaurs began to panic and frantically ran around trying to find a place to escape this horrifying event. The two weasels almost got crushed by falling debrie or trampled by panicked dinosaurs several times but they soon made it close to the exit. "There it is, just a little further!" But suddenly, the cave that linked the two worlds began to crumble and it soon collapsed, trapping them in a world that was falling apart. "NO!" They both skid to a halt in front of their now blocked exit.

"Wot do we do now?"

"I-I-I don't know." Then the ground beneath their feet began to rise as it took them closer to part of the ceiling that hadn't fallen yet, and William began to lose his nerve and panicked. "What do we do, what do we do?"

Buck frantically searched around for any escape route, he spotted a cliff on one of the rising chunks of land that looked climbable, and the land on top lead to an opening in the ice, he was sure that was there only way out so he grabbed William and shook him out of his panicked state. "Snap out of it, I think I found a way out!" He said pointing William at the cliff.

"All I see is a cliff."

"It looks climbable, and it leads to safety, its our only 'ope!"

"Ok, then lets do it, but I warn you, I'm not that good at climbing cliffs, I might lag behind."

"You'll make it, now lets move!" The two weasels sped towards the cliff and began to climb, Buck, who was quite a bit stronger than William and capable of handling just about any situation, surged ahead, while William lagged behind, and all the falling rocks and other debris weren't helping. Buck was already half way up when he looked down and saw that William was only a fourth of the way up. "Come on William, ya can make it."

"Just leave me, I'll only slow you down, I'll try to get up in time, but theres no guarantee."

Buck looked up noticed that at the rate that the cliff was rising and that William was climbing that he wouldn't be able to make it in time, but he had an idea, so he continued to climb to the top, once there he searched for a vine that was both long enough to reach and strong enough to support William, he managed to find one that looked like it would do the job, so he went back to the edge of the cliff and lowered it down to his friend, who was by now only half way up. "Grab on, I'll pull ya up." William quickly did as told and Buck managed to haul him up in time.

"Thanks, again I owe you for saving my life."

"Don't worry about it, lets get outta 'ere." The two weasels began to sprint to the safe area were the gap in the ice was and only just made it as the cliff smashed through the ceiling. Buck then went over and watched in horror as the world he once called home crumbled before his eyes, then a saddening though hit him. "My wifes still down there..." He said sadly. "and shes probly dead by now." He continued as tears began to flow from his eye.

"Buck, I'm so sorry for your loss, I know how much you loved her, but you know that could of been prevented, if you would of listened to the warnings I've been giving you for the past month you could of saved her."

"And Snowflake, 'e's probly dead or dying too." He said growing even sadder.

"If I could of saved him and relocated him to the biosphere I would of, but I know he would just ignore me and try to kill me, but I know how much you enjoyed your rivalry with him, heck I enjoyed a nice rivalry with him to, though still probably not to the extent that you did."

Buck didn't respond, so William decided to give him some alone time to mourn his losses, though he'd admit, he to was going to miss the underground paradise and everything in it, even Rudy, and he himself couldn't help but feel sad about it. He sat there for a few minutes reminiscing all the good times he had down there until Buck came back, still looking very sad. "Buck, if this makes you feel better I will help you find a good mate."

"Thanks, but I'm no' in the mood right now, I'll jus' wait a few weeks, months, years, the rest of my life."

William felt so sorry for his friend, it hurt him to see Buck so sad, but they were soon interrupted when the ground began to shake and rumble again, and they watched as a massive crack appeared and began to grow and the ground suddenly split and began to crumble and slide towards the ocean. The two weasels tried to escape from the sliding mass of land, jumping across gaps between two separate pieces of land and ice, but in the end it was a fruitless effort as the last chunk of ice they landed on got to far away from the mainland to jump access, they both skidded to a halt and began to cling to the chunk of ice for dear life until *SPLASH* The chunk of ice landed in the water and went below the surface for a few seconds before resurfacing, both weasels barley hanging on. They watched helplessly as the current took them farther from land. "NO!" Screamed William. "This can't be happening, what do we do? Its unlikely we will be found by one of my naval vessels and I highly doubt the concept of sailing has been invented yet and we have no way of getting food or fresh water!" He continued as panic began to set in again.

"William, we'll make it through this, we will survive!"

"I hope so, I do not wish to die a slow painful death by starvation and... wait a minute, don't tell me this whole time I was wearing." He looked at his wrist and his suspicion was confirmed. DAMMIT! I WAS WEARING MY SHAPE SHIFTIER THE WHOLE TIME AND FORGOT I WAS EVEN WEARING IT!? THAT COULD OF AIDED OUR ESCAPE AND WE WOULDN'T EVEN BE IN THIS SITUATION, AND NOW ITS RUINT!" He began to twitch when suddenly something snapped and he ran over to a small tree that was on the chunk of ice and began smashing his head against it while shouting "Stupid Stupid Stupid Stupid, I am so stupid!"

Buck came over to try and help William with his mental breakdown. "William, ya no' stupid, ya probly jus' got so wrapped up in our escape tha ya fogot ya were werin it, it 'appens to all of us."

"Yes but if I had known earlier then I would of been able to prevent this and then we wouldn't be going to die!" He wailed as his own insanity began to slowly take control of him.

Buck just sighed. T_his is gonna be a long trip._ He thought to himself as he watched the continent slowly disappeared out of sight as the current took their small chunk of ice further out to sea.


	2. Chapter 2

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios

* * *

Buck and William had been aimlessly floating around on a chunk of ice for two days now, there had been no signs of life aside from fish which Buck would occasionally catch and no signs of land, it was a miserable journey, and it was messing with their minds, most notably Williams as he started to mumble gibberish and carved out random things in the ice with his knife. Buck however had lost his knife, he only just noticed that when he caught his first fish and was forced to claw it to death.

* * *

(Meanwhile, somewhere out in the ocean)

A knife was floating through the ocean until it bumped into a large floating chunk of ice and was picked up by a badger with a Jolly Roger on his back. "Vhat is a knife like you doing floating in the ocean?" Oh vell, finders keepers."

* * *

(Back on the ice flow)

Williams insanity was starting to really mess with his head as he began to internally argue with himself. _You know its Bucks fault that you're in this mess._

_Well what was I suppose to do, let him die? Besides, he saved my life again._

_You wouldn't of needed to be saved if you just stayed above the ice._

_No, I would not leave him to die._

_But if you did, then you wouldn't be on this chunk of ice, floating around with no food, water, warmth, and you wouldn't be arguing with me._

_Your not going to..._

_And, it is Bucks fault that he kept pushing back his departure, if he had left even a day before the continental drift both of you would be safe and sound with the herd at your manor._

_True, it is his... what am I thinking, no, I will not fall for this!_

_Come on William, you know you want to, give him a piece of your mind, make him feel guilty, make him regret waiting for the last minute and putting both of you through this misery._

_NO, SHUT UP!_

_Come on, wouldn't you much rather be sitting on your leather couch in front of a nice warm fire while playing your new Xbox instead of being stuck out here cold, hungry, and thirsty._

_You know what, now that I think of it, you are right, it is Bucks fault, and if he had listened to me he too wouldn't have to be here and he'd still have his wife._

_Indeed he would, so are you going to give him a piece of your mind?_

_Yes._

_Good, good, unleash your anger, make him feel guilty, make him feel insignificant, make him weep._

Meanwhile, Buck noticed that William was acting very strange, he was clutching his head with his eyes shut tight as if he were going through immense pain. "William, ya okay?" Still no response, but then he let go, and looked like something in him had changed, then he opened his eyes and glared angrily at him.

"Hey Buck, I'd like to have a little chat with you."

"About wot?"

"About you, ITS YOUR FAULT WE'RE STUCK ON THIS GOD FORSAKEN CHUNK OF ICE IN THIS GOD FORSAKEN OCEAN WITH NOTHING TO EAT, DRINK, OR KEEP US WARM!"

"Why are ya accusin me of this?"

"BECAUSE YOU CAUSED THIS, IF YOU WOULD HAVE LISTENED TO ME WE COULD BE NICE AND SAFE IN MY MANOR WITH THE HERD, BUT NO, YOU KEPT PUSHING EVERYTHING BACK AND LOOK WERE WE ARE BECAUSE OF IT!"

"Well if it weren't for me you wouldn't of made it out of there alive!"

"OH YEAH, WELL ONCE AGAIN, IF YOU WOULD OF LISTENED TO ME THAT WOULDN'T OF HAPPENED! And oh yes, who was that special someone you failed to save?"

"Don't ya go there."

"Oh yes, I believe it was your precious pineapple."

"Ya stop right there."

"Oh how I bet you miss her, but because of you she's dead."

Now it was Bucks turn to lose his temper as he charged and tackled William and pinned him to the ground. "DON'T YA EVER TALK ABOUT MY WIFE AGAIN!"

"Oh you want to fight?"

"It looks like it."

"Ok, if this is how it must go down." William only just managed to kick Buck off him as he quickly got up and began to attack Buck while he was temporarily down, but Buck quickly got back up and countered his attack and knocked him down with a swift punch and was about to tackle him again when William rolled out the way sending Buck crashing onto the ice, then William moved in to pin the one eyed weasel when Buck responded by kicking back and sending William flying over to the other side of the ice. Then they both got up and charged at one another and began to claw and bite each other. As they fought they failed to notice the ice ship that was approaching until it launched several spikes that embedded deep into the ice and began to tug the ice in closer. They immediately stopped fighting and watched as the ship drew them in closer. Soon they could see numerous animals lining the deck of the ship just watching them. Then one of them, which appeared to be an old but still very fit giant ape came swinging from the ships mast.

"Ahoy down there!"

"Who on earth?" William gasped in disbelief.

"Your lucky we found you, or else you would of died out here in this almost empty ocean."

Buck didn't like this, he sensed something very bad about him, but William was all in, he didn't care, he just wanted some means of getting back home. "Who are ya and wot do ya want?"

"I am Captain Ripper, and this is my crew." They now got a good look at his crew which included 2 sabers, a fat homotherium, a wolf, a leopard seal, a marten, a fox, and an osprey. "Now surrender your vessel or face my fiery raft!" Now Bucks suspicion was confirmed, these were pirates, and he did not trust them one bit.

"But wot will ya do to us even if we surrender our ship?"

"Simple, you become part of our crew."

"Okay" William agreed as he picked up his knife and climbed aboard the vessel, but Buck was hesitant.

"I don't know."

"Come on matey, you'll love it."

"Well, since I don't really 'ave a choice, fine." Buck then climbed aboard the vessel, but as soon as he set foot on it the giant ape grabbed both him and William, they struggled to break free but the apes grip was far to strong.

"Now, about that whole being a part of the crew thing, I lied, you small mammals have no place in this crew, instead you will toil for us until your fed as food for those of us who primarily eat meat." And as if on cue, the predators grinned evilly while licking their chops, then one of them, a small, very twitch saber spoke up.

"Can I have the one with the eye patch, he looks bigger and more filling than the other."

"Oh, you wouldn't want to eat me, I may be a little to tough for your likes." Growled Buck.

"You'll get what you get when the time comes, now be quiet!" Ripper then began to take the two weasels bellow deck when William interrupted.

"Wait, how about we make a deal?"

"Oh, and what kind of deal would you like to make?" He replied in a mocking tone as he thought this might be funny.

"You let me go and take me back to shore, or if we encounter one of these, one of my naval ships and I will pay you with ten tons worth of whatever you'd accept as payment."

"Ripper just stared at the weasel until he burst out in laughter, and so did the rest of the crew."How are you gonna pay me with ten tons worth of anything?"

"I'm dead serious, I'm the richest person to ever live, so, what would I pay you in?""

"Uh, fruit and meat."

"Ten tons of both fruit and meat it is then, sound like a deal?" The entire crew gasped.

"Thats a lot of food" Said one of the crew members.

Ripper stood there for a minute thinking. "Are you indeed telling the truth?"

"Yes, if you keep your end of the bargain, then I'll keep mine."

"Okay then, you've got yourself a deal, but what about your one eyed friend here?"

William considered for a minute. _Do it, he deserves it._

_I don't know, this sound a bit extreme, especially the death part._

_Are you weak?_

_I MOST CERTAINLY AM NOT!_

_Then do as I say._

"You know what, I don't care, we're not friends anymore."

"Ok then, into the brig you go."

Buck was shocked by what William had just said, he knew William was angry at him, but sending him to his potential doom? "William, think about this. "William ya 'ere me? William? WILLIAM!" He screamed as he was taken bellow deck, but his words did reach his now former best friend as the realization of just what he was dong finally hit him like a ton of bricks.

_What have I done? _He though sadly.

_You did the right thing._

_Then why do I feel like I just made the worst mistake of my life?_

* * *

Note: If I do indeed go ahead with the romance idea (which is around 95% yes) Then the love interest will more than likely be introduced next chapter. I'm also heavily considering bringing back a familiar face from the past to re introduce in the next chapter as well. However, I will probably take a lot more time with these next chapters than previous ones, in fact I might pre produce several of the next chapters and release them one by one since, as I've said before, I don't think I'd be that great with romance and I want to make sure I like how all this turns out before I release them, and hopefully I will prove myself wrong.

On another note, yes, I know, I didn't use Gutt, but I want to take a different route, I bet there are more pirates than just Gutt in the Ice Age universe, and this is one of them, however, I am bringing back three other villans from a past Ice Age movie (I bet you can already guess who they are) This pirate crew is suppose to be worse than Gutt and his crew (though they do know each other, and actually have a friendly relationship)


	3. Chapter 3

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios

* * *

Buck was taken to bellow deck were there was a massive cell holding several other small mammals the crew thought of as useless, rabbits, mustelids, possums, raccoons, and other species. He was thrown into the cell and crashed into the wall. "Did 'e 'ave to do tha?" He moaned as he got back to his feet and observed his surroundings when he suddenly spotted two faintly familiar faces coming towards him.

"Buck!" One of them, a female, shouted.

_Is tha...?_

"Buck!"

"Crystal?"

"Buck, remember me, Crystal?" The female asked.

"Crystal, is it really you?"

"Yes, and my husband Fang."

"How do you do?" Fang asked extending his paw.

"Uh, hi." He said nervously, still remembering how Fang had treated him when they first met.

"Oh yes, I've wanted to tell you this for a long time now, and thats that I'm sorry for everything I did to you and your friend when we first met, I've changed completely and regret what I did."

"Apology accepted, I can't exactly 'old a grudge against ya fo' somthin ya did so long ago forever."

"Thank you." The two mammals then shook paws. "By the way, where is that friend of yours... William wasn't it?"

"Yeah, about tha, we got in a fight recently and we're no' friends anymore, 'e's up on deck with the pirates waiting fo' them to take 'im back 'ome."

"Your no longer friends?" Crystal asked, completely shocked.

"Nope."

"How, the bond between you two when we met was so strong, he even sacrificed himself, and I remember how devastated you were."

"Well 'e's apparently changed, I still can't believe wot 'e's done."

"I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Thanks, could ya excuse me, I would like some time to myself."

"Yes, of course, I understand."

"Thanks lass." Buck walked among the crowd, thinking about what went wrong, when suddenly, something caught his eye. upon closer inspection he noticed that it was another weasel, and an elegant female around his age at that, he was tempted to go over and meet her. _But wot if she doesn't like me?_ He thought, but he decided to go up and meet her anyway. "Excuse me, mam?"

She turned around and was greeted by what she thought was a rather handsome looking weasel, despite the fact he only had one eye. "Oh, hello, who are you?"

"The names Buck, short for Buckminster, long for Buh, Wots yours, i-if ya don't mind me askin."

"Emily."

Emily, he liked the sound of that name. "So, Emily, 'ow did someone like you end up on a ship like this?"

"I, I'd rather not talk about it." Then she gave a look as if she just remembered something unpleasant. "Excuse me, but, I, I want to be alone." She said as she disappeared into the crowd.

_I wonder wot 'er problom is, oh well, maybe she will open up to me later, but I shouldn't pressure 'er to._ Then another thought came to mind. _I wonder 'ow Williams doin, I bet 'e's as 'appy as can be._ He thought bitterly.

* * *

(Meanwhile, on deck)

William was clutching his head, still arguing with himself as the voice that told him to start the fight with Buck continually tried to convince William that he did the right thing. _come on, you know, with Buck out the way, you probably won't encounter any more villans._

_I doubt that, in fact I'm pretty sure these pirates are villans._

_Oh come on, whats it gonna take to convince you that I'm right?"_

_SHUT UP, OKAY JUST SHUT UP! BUCK AND I HAD BEEN BEST FRIENDS FOR YEARS UNTIL YOU MADE ME START THAT FIGHT AND NOW I DOUBT I CAN GO BACK AND I HAVE TO AT LEAST PRETEND TO STAY ANGRY AT HIM WHICH WOULD IN TERN MAKE ME TRULY ANGRY WITH HIM LIKE I AM WITH YOU, JUST SHUT UP BEFORE I SMASH YOU!_

_You know if you do that you will only be hurting your... OW!, WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?_

_To make you shut up._

_You know you just hit yourself._

_So?_

_So the pirates are watching you, you don't want them to think your crazy do you?_

William snapped out of his state and noticed the entire crew staring at him. "Are you crazy or something, your acting very strange, and I don't do business with crazy people." The captain said sternly.

"Uh, no, not at all, just an annoying thought that wouldn't leave, its gone now."

"O-kay, so, whats a rich person like you doing all the way out here?"

"Well, the continents sort of reconfigured each other and in the process some of the land crumbled and fell off, and we happened to be in one of those areas and ended up stranded on that piece of ice for two days, so, what got you into piracy?"

"Piracy is in my blood, my father was a pirate, my grandfather was a pirate, my great grandfather was a pirate, and so on, heck, my sons a pirate, he even has his own ship, crew, and a lot of loot!"

Really, and who would your son be?"

"Gutt."

"Thats an interesting name."

"Oh, he's called that because he gut his brother!"

"Why did he do that?" William asked completely shocked.

"Because he had a twin brother, and only one of them could come along with me, so I had them fight to see who was strongest, he won, and gut his brother, so I named him Gutt."

William was now very uncomfortable with this subject, so he decided to change it."Interesting, so, how did you find all these animals, did they join you when you first started or did you find them stranded in the ocean?"

"Most were stranded, if it weren't for me they'd all be food for the fishes, though a few joined when I raided some coastal villages and ships, those three sabers over there, Zeke, Oscar, and Lenny I found floating together on ice some time ago, in fact Oscar is my first mate, the wolf is Vince, he ran away from home and joined us when he was twelve, the Osprey is Dive, she crashed onto the ships deck during a storm, the fox is Shaw, he was also stranded on a hunk of ice, Leopold, the leopard seal, he got lost and took refuge on a floating piece of ice until I found him, and then we have Abrams the marten."

"Wait, I thought you didn't allow small mammals on your crew?"

"Well he's the exception, he was the crew member of a ship we were raiding but his fighting skills were most impressive, he actually killed two of my crew, and both were wolfs, and he was the last of them to stop fighting, I was so impressed with his skills that instead of executing him I offered him a chance to join the crew, which of course he accepted, but he's the only exception to that rule."

Then Williams head began to hurt as the voices returned, this time not only the angry one but also a voice he hadn't heard from in a very long time, the annoying nagging voice that fed off of his guilt and pain, he clutched his head tightly as the captain watched.

"Ok, whats going on, you don't like to hear me speak?" The captain asked offended.

"No, its just... just these bad headaches I've been having off and on for the past few days." He lied.

The captain looked at him suspiciously. "O-kay, I'll just go and focus on getting you back home, the sooner we get there the sooner I get my bounty." The captain stormed off while William frantically searched for a place to be completely alone as the voices kept calling him, waiting for him to respond. He then noticed that not a lot of the pirates loot was on the main deck so he figured it was on a lower level so he raced down the stairs to the second floor, but noticed that it was were the prisoners were kept, and everyone stared at him.

"Whos that?" Asked one of the prisoners.

"A traitorous arse." Buck replied, not forgiving William for what he did

"STOP JUDGING ME!" He screamed as he spotted another staircase that led even further down a scurried down, tripping and falling down them until he crashed onto the floor, and noticed that his suspicion was right, the pirates did keep their loot in a separate compartment, he looked around and noticed he was all alone and he finally broke down.

_WILLIAM!_

_WHAT!?_

_How could you have done what you did to Buck?_

_He did the right thing, its because of Buck we're in this mess_

_Oh god, don't tell me the two of you are going to be arguing._

_you know what, I think we are. _The two voices began to argue over which one was right and tried to sway Williams view on the matter. William was on the verge of completely losing it until finally, he snapped as he let out an ear piercing scream, which everyone heard.

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU'VE LEFT ME ALONE FOR SO LONG UNTIL TODAY, WHY ARE YOU BACK? WHY MUST YOU HAUNT ME? IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU I'D STILL HAVE A FRIEND AND MOST OF MY SANITY!"

_But we're helping you._

"NO YOUR NOT, JUST GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

_NO! _Now William had had it with his mind as he began to laugh crazily then let out another scream as he hit his head as hard as he could against the icy interior of the ship, and knocked himself out cold.

* * *

Note: I've now decided to scrap the whole pre production idea and just continue posting chapters once their done as usual, and as you can see, I'm going ahead with the whole love interest idea and I will be sticking with it, but I will take my time with it, currently chapter 4 is a little over half way written and hopefully I will be able to get that up relatively soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios.

* * *

Buck could hear Williams screams from where he was, then he heard a knock and it was all silent. Crystal came rushing up to him. "Was that William?"

Buck sighed. "Yes, no' exactly the gentlemen 'e use to be is 'e?"

"Whats wrong with him?"

"I think 'e's losin it, 'e's beginning to act like I did when I lost my sanity."

"So your saying he's going insane?" Fang asked.

"Yep, or insaner, 'e was already a tad insane." Then Oscar came down to see what was making all of the noise.

"Okay which of you is yelling and screaming like a maniac?"

"It was a weasel who went down to the next floor." One of the prisoners piped up.

"WHAT! NO ONE GOES DOWN THERE WITHOUT THE CAPTAINS OR MY PERMISSION!" He shouted angrily as he stormed down the stairs and indeed found a weasel, but it was asleep. "WAKE UP YOU FOOL!" He screamed as he slapped the unconscious mustelid, but it didn't respond so he scooped it up in his jaw and took it to the captain. "Sir, this weasel was found in the storage compartment with all our bounty." He reported, dropping William in front of the captain.

"Did he put up a fight?"

"No, he was already out when I got to him."

"How about our bounty, did he touch any of it?"

"I highly doubt it, I didn't see the remains of anything down there."

"Good, but just to be sure, double check the area, I'll take care of our little weasel friend." Captain Ripper picked up the still unconscious weasel and tied him to the ships mast.

* * *

(The next morning.)

William woke up with a splitting headache. "ow, I now regret slamming my head against a thick icy wall." He groaned, then realized that he was tied to something, and several feet off the ground. "Ok, why am I tied up?"

"Ah, William, I see you've awoken."

"Why have you tied me up, we had a deal."

"Well, my first mate found you in the storage compartment were we keep all our loot, and no one, especially passengers, are allowed down there, only I or my first make are allowed down there at any time, so tell me, what were you doing down there, trying to steal some loot for yourself you thievin little RAT!"

"No, I just needed some time alone, all by myself, and that was the only place to do so."

"I don't believe you, why would someone go down their, were all my treasure is, just to be alone?"

"You'd be surprised, besides, why would I possibly want to steal from you anyway when I'm far richer than you could ever hope to be?"

"You better shut your trap you little runt."

"How about I just give you twenty extra tons on top of the ten I've already offered and just forget about this?"

Rippers train of though was then stopped by his own greed. "Thirty tons of bounty." He gasped

"mmmmhhmmm"

"Matey, you've got yourself a deal!" Ripper then untied William and set him down.

"Thank you." _The__ best way to reason with a pirate is with wealth. _William thought as he went up to the ships bow to watch for land or one of his naval ships, hoping he knocked the voices out of his head.

Back below deck everyone was waking up, hoping that there time on this god forsaken vessel would soon be over. Buck decided to try and get to know Emily better, that is if she'd let him, he saw that she was curled up in a corner crying, something was clearly very wrong, he wondered if it was just because she was being held prisoner and will eventually be fed to the crew, or if there might be something else, or it could be both, he decided to figure out whats wrong and see if he could do anything to help. "Emily." He said gently as though not to startle her.

"What is it?"

"Well, I jus' saw tha ya appeared to be very upset and I wondered if there was anything I could do to 'elp."

"Go away, I don't need any help."

"Somethins clearly botherin ya, and I jus' want to 'elp, unless its somethin ya no' comfortable talkin about."

"The problem is that everybody just wants me for my looks, nothing else, they would just lie to me, telling me that they liked doing the same things I like to, and my last husband... he- he was abusive." She said bursting into tears. "He practically kept me prisoner in his house but tried to keep me somewhat happy by giving me a lot of gifts, but all I wanted was to go out side and explore, I hate being cooped up inside, I like to go out side and see the world, so one day when he was gone I made my escape, and that day I went from a bad situation to a worse one, I fled into a village but it turned out these pirates were ransacking it, and they cornered me and took me prisoner, and they basically just use me for entertainment, they make me dance while throwing things at me, and if I refuse to then they'll use me as food, I-I just don't know what to do." She said as she continued crying.

"I'm so sorry to 'ear tha, but listen, I would never 'urt ya, and I want to get to know ya."

"I guess I can give you a chance, but if you hurt me on purpose in anyway I'm leaving you."

"Don't worry lass, I won't do anything to ya, ya can trust me."

"Ok then, I-I trust you." She said as she pulled herself together and got up, but then the pirates came down.

"ATTENTION!" A martin said and everyones eyes were instantly glued on him. "Its time for you worthless sacks of flesh to swab the deck, those of you who refuse will be either eaten or keelhauled!"

Emily tensed up at the mention of the punishment for not doing her work but Buck put a paw on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll protect ya." He said softly, and this actually made her feel a bit better, there was something about him that made her feel safe, but she couldn't figure out exactly what it was. The two weasels then followed everyone up to do their work.


	5. Chapter 5

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios

* * *

Swabbing the pirates deck was a miserable chore, the pirates wanted every square inch of the deck clean, but they made this a difficult task as most of the crew while eating just threw the remains of their food everywhere, fish carcasses, banana peals, half eaten apples, everything was discarded anywhere they pleased and they made their prisoners clean it up all over again. Every time Buck saw one of the pirates lazily toss their left overs onto the deck he wanted to punch them in the mouth. It was a painstaking job and many were on the verge of just throwing their utensils away and quitting, but continued working for fear of punishment.

Meanwhile William was trying to hide, primarily from Buck, as he felt that Buck would not forgive him and would try to hurt him and because it might trigger his mind to start arguing with him again, but hiding wasn't easy, as most of the pirates only stood still for a few minutes at the most and they were making him feel very uncomfortable.

Buck also wanted to avoid William, he was not in the mood to see him again, instead he spent time talking with Emily, who was quite worried about their situation. "Buck, do you think we'll ever get out of here?"

"I don't know, I 'ate to say this but I think Williams our best 'ope, I already know 'e's paying the pirates to take 'im 'ome but I don't know if 'e'll buy everyone from these pirates and free us or jus' leave us to our fates, though we could possibly start a rebellion once we reach land."

"How do we do that?"

"I think theres enough of us 'ere to over power the crew, or we could jus' make a break fo' shore, there will be to many of us fo' the pirates to stop at once."

"Less yapping and more swabbing you useless sacks of meat, unless you want to be part of tonights meal." The captain threatened.

"oh the things I'd like to do to tha oversized monkey." Buck growled quietly.

"Save it for when its time to make our escape, I'm sure you'll be able to get back at him, but for now we need to focus on staying alive."

"I know lass, I jus really 'ate being controlled like this, I'm no' to fond of followin rules and discipline and no' bein able to fight back."

"So do I, I want to go out and live a life of adventure and live by my own rules."

"Lass, I think we're gonna get along jus' fine, I live fo' adventure."

"Really, you're not lieing?"

"I'm dead serious, I'll tell ya more when we're finally done with this miserable chore."

Meanwhile, Crystal, who was also swabbing the deck, was forming a plan to mend Buck and Williams friendship, she had a feeling that if they got together and began to cooperate and work together like they use to, they, along with her and fang, could over through the pirates, she remembered just how capable they were, she remembered how Buck took on several warriors and managed to hold his own and she heard that William had saved her father from several other warriors as well, and she and her husband were quite capable fighters too, so she had good reason to believe that her plan could work. She noticed that William was trying hide behind some of the pirates, so she slowly maneuvered her way towards were he was, but how she would get his attention, she didn't know yet, however, she didn't need to do much as William had already noticed her.

_Crystal, is that really her? _He thought curiously, he hadn't seen her in a long time, so he decided to stop hiding and find out. "Crystal, is it really you?"

"William, oh good, you already saw me, yes, it is me, long time no see, so how have you been?"

"Eh, kinda sorta goodish, if it weren't for the entire continental drift, my mind constantly bothering me, my fight with Buck, and these pirates everything would be perfect." There conversation was soon interrupted by Leopold.

"Hey, no talking to the prisoners while they're working!" He growled

"If you let me talk to her I will give you an extra bonus on top of what I'm already paying."

"Oh, an extra bonus, ok, carry on." The leopard seal replied excitedly.

"I like it when villains are dim witted and act childish, especially when they look like a big tough brute, its quite comical, but, anyway, how did you end up here, and is the rest of your tribe with you?"

"Sadly no, Fang and I were separated from them when the ground began break apart and rise, we basically rode the land up to the surface, but it then fell apart and we ended up on a piece of ice floating in the ocean, and after a day or two of floating we were picked up by these guys who promised us they would help us find the rest of our tribe and then takes us back home, but instead he threw us in with their other victims, you?."

"Same thing, except I'm using the pirates greed to my advantage in order to get back home."

"Are you going to do anything about those of us held captive by the pirates?"

"More than likely, I'll just use my wealth to further convince them once we reach land."

"Why don't we just overthrow them, like right now, as long as they're in control they're a threat to all of us."

"True, but a rebellion would most likely cause more harm and bloodshed than just waiting."

Then they heard someone screaming in anger. "THAT IS IT, I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU FILTHY, SLOPPY, PIRATES!" Yelled a furious raccoon that the pirates were forcing to swab the decks. "MUST YOU THROW ALL YOUR CRAP ON THE DECK OF WHICH YOU WANT CLEANED, IT WOULD BE A LOT EASIER IF YOU IDIOTS WEREN'T SUCH FILTHY SLOPS!"

"Oh really? Well, I enjoy watching you meat sacks toil for me and my crew, and it provides a good opportunity for a nice lunch with entertainment. The captain said as he sized up on the angry raccoon who suddenly shrunk back in fear.

"W-What do you mean by opportunity for a nice lunch?" It cowered fearfully.

"This." He said as he picked the raccoon up by the scruff of its neck.

"W-W-What are you doing... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'll never insult you and your crew again and I'll do everything you tell me to do!" It begged as it began to panic.

"I know you won't, who wants this nice juicy raccoon?" He bellowed as he threw the terrified mammal onto the deck of the ship as some of the crew charged at it, while those who weren't hungry just watched and laughed with amusement as the raccoon was torn to shreds with each pirate ripping off chunks flesh and bone. Everyone except the pirates looked away from the horrifying sight, their hearts struck with terror and discust.

"Let this be a lesson to anyone who dares to defy me!"

"That poor raccoon." Emily said as she began to cry.

"Don't worry lass, I won't let tha 'appen to ya." Buck said as he wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug and then Emily did the same to Buck.

After seeing that gory display of violence William began to reconsider. "Okay, I'll think about it, but I can't take them all on, they're much larger than I and they're all fierce fighters, I'd be overwhelmed, and I bet if they caught me trying to inspire an uprising they'd kill me."

"Why not team up with Buck, and Fang and I would be more than happy to help."

"Because... Because we're no longer friends, and I doubt he'd forgive me for what I've done, besides, he deserves better than me" William said sadly.

"Okay, I already knew you weren't friends with him anymore, but I didn't think you'd feel this way, I expected more of a angry screw him kind of thing, but I'm sure he'd forgive you, the last time I saw you the two of you were best friends."

"Things have changed, besides, why should he forgive me, I accused and insulted him as well as his recently deceased wife, got in a fight with him, and then abandoned him to the mercy of these pirates... what kind of friend am I?... What kind of person am I?" He said as he began to cry, and then, just to make things worse, his mind began to mess with him again.

_Guess whos back? _It asked in a sing song manner.

"YOU!" William replied out loud as he snapped from sadness and guilt to red hot rage.

"Me, what did I do?" Crystal asked confused.

"No not you, him." He replied pointing at his skull.

"Yourself?"

"Kinda, more specifically my split mind."

"You have a split mind?"

"Yes, it hasn't bothered me for years, but something triggered it to come back and its whats ruint everything."

_Thats right. _

"You shut up, she can't even here you, but anyway, basically its a major annoyance, but it can also be very persuasive, and thats what caused me to turn on Buck."

_And now I want you to tell Crystal shes a useless bitch and that its because of her you had to suffer at the hands of Savage and that shes the reason she lost her tribe._

"NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT, I WILL NOT SAY THAT YOU STUPID, IDIOTIC, ANNOYING AS HELL, PIECE OF S**T!" He screamed angrily as everyone stopped and stared at him, and he could now hear his mind laughing at him.

"What is your problem?" The captain asked.

"Oh, just some annoying... dolphin who told me something I really didn't like."

The captain stared at him suspiciously. "I don't think your being very honest, but since your paying me so much and I have much more important things to worry about right now I'm just going to ignore that."

"Phew, that was close, are you trying to get me killed?"

_I don't know, maybe, maybe not._

"Oh how I wish you were a physical person I could beat to..."

"Uh William, what is your mind telling you?"

"It wanted me to turn on you and now its just being plain annoying and won't shut up."

"It wanted you turn on me?" She gasped.

"Yes, and that is why I was shouting.

_And because you're an idiot._

You shut up before I cut you out of my head!"

_That would kill you to genius._

"... Well at least I wouldn't have to hear from you again."

Then another voice came in. A_ctually, why don't you do it, not only would you not hear from us again but you'd be with your parents of whom you still miss so dearly._

_Thats not a bad reason actually, yeah, why don't you cut us out, you want us to shut up, and you'd love to see your beloved parents again wouldn't you?" _The other voice agreed.

"No, I won't, I changed my mind, but I still wish I could cut you out without killing myself."

"What is it suggesting now?"

"Suicide."

"What!?"

"Yep, you heard me, suicide."

_Hmmm, speaking of pain and death, I think its time we start tormenting you with painful memorys and what if scenarios as well as your worst fears._

"Don't you dare... stop talking... that cannot happen, its impossible... shut up, must you constantly bring that one up?" He cringed as his head began to hurt again.

"What going on, are you ok?"

"Get out of my head!"

"William?"

"For the last time its not my fault their dead, and I bet they would of wanted me to live anyway because they loved me and they'd want me to continue with the company to help make the world a better place and perhaps have a family of my own." His head began to hurt even wore and now so did his heart.

"What?" Crystal was now utterly confused, she had no idea what William was talking about or exactly what was going on, though she was certain it was something to do with his mind.

"ExcusemeIneedsometimealone!" He said in a very fast manner that sounded more like gibberish to Crystal than anything else as he ran off.

"Wait!" But it was to late, he was gone. _Wow, he is really messed up, this is going to be harder than I thought._ She thought to herself.

William fled down to the storage bay, knowing that the pirates didn't like that but hoping that they wouldn't notice this time and that they'd be a bit more understanding. He hid himself in the very back were hopefully no one would find him as he curled up in a ball and wept, the pain he was going through was immense. "Why are you tormenting me like this again, I thought you moved out."

_You know what, we're just going to be blatant and just say that we want to be in control now, we've been the underdog for too long now, its our turn to take charge._

"But why now?"

_We'd been trying to take control even when you first arrived in this time period, but then you met that weasel and began to feel better about yourself and you had someone to help you deal with us, but, because of recent events, we found the perfect opportunity to put our plans back in action, and with Buck out the way, we may finally accomplish that goal._

"And what exactly are you going to do once, or should I say if, you take control?"

_Simple, take over the world and force everyone to be peaceful and get along, those who don't shall be killed, and we'll probably do a few other things as well that you would never do or approve of._

"I will not allow you to do that, while I do wish the world would get along I wouldn't do it by killing them, and do you know how difficult it would be to invade every single country, and the fact that no one would take kindly to it and that even the civil population would probably fight back, the amount of lives lost will be in the hundreds of millions, if not the billions, so no, you're not taking control!"

_Then mentally suffer some more!_

Before he could be overcome by more mental pain, William decided that since ramming his head against the ice worked the first time, that he'd do it again, and thats precisely what he did as he slammed it as hard against the wall as he could, knocking him out again.


	6. Chapter 6

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios.

* * *

Later that afternoon the deck was finally clean and the prisoners were sent back down below deck, which most were fine with, as long as they didn't have to work anymore. Buck was actually especially glad it was done, he didn't know how much longer he could take being ordered around by those scum and he was looking forward to telling Emily about his adventures, though he wasn't sure if he'd be able to convince her that he really was from an underground tropical paradise populated by dinosaurs. "So ya want to 'ear about my adventures?"

"I'd love to."

"Now before I tell you about any of this, I need to tell ya that everything tha 'appned is real, and so is the place, now it may be very 'ard to belive but I use to live in an underground paradise alongside dinosaurs, I'm no' kidding, it was real."

Emily just stared at him in disbelief. "Your lieing, so does that mean everything else you've told me is a lie?"

"No, I'm dead serious, it was real."

"How can that be possible, dinosaurs went extinct a very long time ago."

"I admit I'm no' sure 'ow tha place survived but it did, it was under the ice, and if ya think I'm liein, then do ya think a liar can describe and tell wots there?"

"Okay, tell me about this place."

"It was under the ice supported by massive pillars and it was tropical,with tropical trees, and flowers, it 'ad a giant river of lava tha led to a fall tha I called lava falls, there was this strip of very unstable ground were large plates of ground were only 'eld up by rottin branches and themselves, and there was a pack of raptors tha lived there, and there was this jungle I called, the jungle of misery, it was very pretty and deadly with many of the plants being either carnivorous or poisonous, I remember almost bein killed by so many of them in my first weeks down there, 'eck, one of them looked like a nice, giant, sweet, delicious fruit, but once ya touch it tentacles come out of the ground and snatch ya up as the plant clamps shut until your completely digested, which only takes a few hours, and then ya ,ave the chasm of death which is a giant chasm filled with green toxic fumes that if breathed in cause ya to laugh uncontrollably until ya die, are ya convinced yet or do I need to list more, because I can go on all day."

Emily was speechless, it was highly unlikely that any liar could come up with all that so quickly and talk about it without making it sound improvised and made up on the spot, and he sounded much more serious than she had ever heard him so far. "Okay, I believe you, but I would still like to see proof of its existence."

"I'll show plenty of it once we get back 'ome, so, now may I continue with my stories?"

"Of course."

Buck began by telling her about some notable events that happened during his first few weeks living in the dinosaur world, except the one about first encounter with Rudy and how he lost his eye and obtained his knife since he didn't have it anymore, though he was sure William still had his, there was no way he could obtain it. He then told her about the adventure he had with the herd and even the numerous ones he had with William, though he did tell her that their friendship had recently collapsed and why.

Emily meanwhile was amazed by everything Buck had been through, and she noted that he was a fantastic story teller, not once did she feel board or disinterested by any of his storys, his storys even got the attention of quite a few of the other captives who also found themselves very quickly drawn in, but none of them, with the exception of Crystal and Fang, really thought they were real, but they were very entertaining.

"That was amazing!" Cheered Emily. "So you really lived through all of that?"

"Yep, every single one." Buck replied proudly.

"Wow, I wish I could of been there with you on those adventures, instead of being stuck with a bunch of selfish jerks, and you actually care about others, everyone else I've been with just cared about themselves."

"I'm no' the kind of person who likes to stand around doin nothin when I know someone in trouble, and I'm always more than 'appy to 'elp out others."

Then Crystal came over. "Excuse me Buck, I'm not interrupting or anything am I?"

"No' at all, oh, Crystal, I'd like ya to meet Emily, Emily, this is Crystal.

"Are you the girl Buck just mentioned in one of his stories, the person who saved him and his friend from execution but was later saved by them after you were kidnapped and once all that was over helped them escape through the jungle?"

"Why yes I am, and would you by chance be Bucks girlfriend?"

"I guess you could say that." Emily replied, blushing a bit.

"You are so lucky, I think Buck would make a fantastic mate, and the two of you actually make a cute couple."

Now Buck blushed, a bit embarrassed. "So Crystal, is there somethin else ya want to say, I 'ave a feelin this is no' why ya came over."

"Oh, um, yes actually, you know how William was acting all crazy the other day and you suspected that he was going completely insane?"

"Yeah."

"Well I think I've confirmed your theory, I had a chat with him earlier today and he said that there were voices in his head that kept influencing his decisions, like how he got in a fight with you, it even tried to turn him against me and convince him to kill himself."

"Wow, I was beginning to suspect as much, did ya get anything else?"

"Well he was ridden with guilt because of what he did to you and he doesn't think you'll ever forgive him and that you deserve better than him, but thats it, though he did say something unintelligible at the end of our chat and ran off... somewhere, I think his mind was actually hurting him mentally."

"Poor lad, then in this case I would like to see 'im and 'ave a nice chat, if it is 'is mind messin with 'im again and since 'e seems to regret wot 'e's done then I can fo'give 'im, I do know 'e use to 'ave problems with 'is mind, we actually use to 'elp each other with our own mental issues, I know wot 'e's goin through so I think I can 'elp 'im with this and get 'im back to normal."

"I hope it works, the two of you were such good friends and the two of you were capable of just about anything, heck, I bet the two of you together could take on the entire crew."

"Maybe, but we'd still probly need help, theres eight of them and only two of us, and Williams the only one of us with a weapon."

"Fang and I would be more than happy to help."

"I'll help to." Emily added in.

"'ow good are ya at fightin?"

"Not bad, I grew up with two older brothers and was often picked on so I learned to fend for myself and I was eventually able to hold my own against them."

"Good, well then our odds are now better but still no' entirely in our favor, even if I can 'elp William with 'is mental issue and fix our friendship they'll still 'ave three more than us and they all 'ave weapons."

"If we can get William back the he could probably solve the weapons issue by smuggling in weapons." Suggested Crystal.

"And I bet some of our fellow captives would like to fight too." Emily added in.

"If most or all of em end up fighting with us then we probly won't need weapons, it be best to 'ave both, but I think both plans could work."

"So when do we start, I've been on this hellish boat for far to long and I want off as soon as possible, plus I'd really like to settle a score with those pirates." Emily said anxiously.

"Why no' now, we can try to encourage everyone to rebel and take over the ship."

"Great, I'll go ahead and fill my husband in on everything, he's been in a really bad mood and grown rather anti social since we were taken by these hooligans."

"understandable, now lets get these plans into action, the sooner the better." Buck replied as the three began to put their plan into action.

* * *

(Meanwhile, even further below deck.)

William found himself in a massive, dark room all by himself. _Don't tell me these are returning to._ He thought with dread, but then he saw a familiar face, one he hadn't seen since he was a child.

"William?"

"Mother?"

"Why have you ignored us?"

"I don't, not one day goes by that I don't think about you and father."

"Why have you been ignoring us for so long?"

"I don't, I still miss you and father dearly." He said as tears began to well up in his eyes. "I miss you so much, if I could save the two of you without messing up the timeline I would, but its impossible."

"Clearly you don't care about us or even your best friend."

"Thats not..."

"She is right." interrupted an all to familiar English accented voice. "Ya jus' insult me and my dead wife, and abandon me fo' my fate to be decided by pirates."

"Buck, I'm so, very sorry, my mind just..."

"I don't care, I'm no' gonna fo'give ya, and besides, I've already found a replacement fo' ya."

"I'm not surprised, you deserve better than me, but I really am terribly sorry." He wept as he closed his eyes and hoped everything would just go away, and when he opened them, much to his surprise, there was nothing there. "Hello?" He called out nervously to make sure he was alone, but then a figure, one he hated more than anything, slowly appeared. "You!?"

The figure just grinned evilly. "I'm gonna gut you alive!" He said as he unnaturally quickly charged towards William with a large combat knife in his hand as William quickly backed himself up but hit a wall which caused everything to disappear as he awoke to reality.

"PLEASE NO!" He shouted, but he felt nothing, as he opened his tightly clamped shut eyes to reveal that he was backed up against a wall inside a ships cargo compartment which was filled with fruits, then, he completely broke down. "Just leave me alone already." He wept.

_Not until you give control over to me._

This made William even more miserable, it confirmed that bashing his head would no longer shut up that stupid voice, and that was the only thing he knew had worked. "Will you at least leave me alone temporarily if I agree to think about giving you control?" There was a momentary pause.

_Fine, but I'll come back if you think off topic for to long or you decide not to give me control._

"Thats all I'm asking for." After a few minutes William finally managed to pull himself together and snuk through the cargo compartment to the entrance and was relived to find no pirates, he then noticed that it was night so he figured everyone was asleep so he proceeded to climb up to the next floor.

Meanwhile, Buck was lying on the floor at the front of the giant cell still awake, he was thinking about how their plan would work until he heard Williams scream, and now he was thinking about how he'd fix things between the two of them until he heard foot steps. When he sat up he was surprised to see William who froze in place and looked frightened to see him awake. "William?" He asked in the softest, most friendly manner he could, but the weasel just took off and flew up the stairs onto the deck. "William wait!" He called out, but it was too late.

"Will you shut it, some of us are trying to sleep." A mammal groaned angrily behind him to which Buck switched around with a death glare and saw one of the mammals press itself down against the floor. "Sorry." It squeaked timidly as Buck lied back down and tried to get some sleep himself.

Up on deck meanwhile William found that all of the pirates were indeed asleep, much to his relief, so he walked up onto the bow of the ship and stared ahead at the moonlit ocean as he began to think about what he should do.


	7. Chapter 7

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios.

* * *

The next day, things were more positive among the captives, there was a sense of rebellion, Buck, Emily, and Crystal had successfully rallied most of the prisoners to rebel, they just had to wait for the right moment, meanwhile, above deck, William was still thinking about what he should do, everything about the other part of his mind was negative except for the being left alone part, but that wasn't enough to sway his decision, however things were about to get better as Dive came back from a patrol with news. "Captain, I found this massive, smoke belching ship sailing at impressive speeds not to far from here." She reported, and William heard this, and quickly interrupted what the captain was about to say.

"Did you just say, massive smoke belching ship, as in massive steam powered ship?"

"Uh, yeah, whats it to ya?"

"That is one of my ships, now tell me, did it have a long, flat top?"

"Uh, no."

"Oh, one of my big gun ships, how many main turrets did it have?"

"Whats a turret?"

"Its what holds the main big guns."

"It had four."

"How many guns were on the turret?"

"Three."

"That narrows it down to two vessels, now, how many funnels did it have?"

"Whats a funnel?"

"Its what the smoke was coming out of."

"It had two."

"Oh, brilliant, a Montana class, BMS Exterminator."

"What the heck are you talking about?" The captain asked a bit annoyed.

"One of my warships, thats what your bird found, and if she can tell the ships captain that I'm here and have it come pick me up, I can hook your ship up to her and tow you to port were you can collect your payment."

"Ok then, dive, tell the ship that their... guy is here."

"Wait, you'll need to know quite a bit about the ship in order to have a chance in convincing the captain that you were sent by me or any other person who might need to be rescued."

"Ok, I'm listening."

"The ship is a Montana class battleship, her name is the Exterminator, she is 920 feet long, capable of 28 knots, has 12 406mm mark 7 16in guns plus 20 127mm mark 16 5in guns, she has a 409mm thick armor belt and she weights 70,965 tons fully loaded, that should be enough information, and just tell them that Grand Admiral William Johnson sent you, you got all that?" Dive just nodded as she took off towards the mighty battleship. "Ok brain, you better not start anything until I'm onboard that ship." William mumbled to himself.

_For once I'll agree with you, since I'd much rather be on that battleship than here as well, so I promise to leave you alone, at least until your on board, then I can go all out on you._

That last bit greatly worried William, but he decided not to worry about that and focus on his objectives, and an hour later Dive came back with news. "The captain of your ship agreed to come over and pick you up and should be here in a few hours."

"Excellent." He then turned to the captain. "Captain Ripper, you and your crew have earned your payment, you should be receiving it either this afternoon or tomorrow morning, depending on how long it takes to get back to port."

"I look forward to collecting it."

A few hours later and everyone could see a massive figure looming in the distance. "There she is, the mighty Exterminator."

"Thats your ship?"

"Yep."

"That thing looks very big."

"Thats because it is."

Half an hour later and they could see the entire vessel in all her glory, and the entire crew just stared at it in awe. "I've never seen anything so... big." Oscar said completely awe struck.

"Are you sure thats a ship, it looks more like a floating island." Said Leopold.

"Yes shes a ship, and island can't float."

_I want that ship._ Captain Ripper thought evilly as he began to think up a plan on how to obtain it. _Screw the bounty, this is the real prize._

They noticed that there were a lot of humans standing on deck facing them and the all four main turrets were turning to face their direction, this greatly unnerved the pirates, but then three giant steel harpoons were shot at the ice ship and they found themselves being pulled in closer to the giant monstrosity. Then one of the humans called out. "Grand Admiral Johnson?"

"Right here." He replied jumping up waving his paws to get their attention.

"Is that really you?"

"William sighed. "Yes, my shape shifter got soaked which, yet again, left me stuck in this form."

"Yep, thats definitely you, welcome back sir."

"Good to be back." But before William could cross the cables holding the two ships together, Captain Ripper Quickly grabbed William and his own knife and held it against his throat. "What are you doing, I thought we had a deal." William said, completely flabbergasted.

"Well then I saw your ship and, well, I want it."

"You put the admiral down right now or we'll shoot!" The captain of the Exterminator demanded.

"Shoot me or my crew and your admiral is dead." He replied pressing the knife even closer to Williams throat just enough to draw a little bit of blood.

"That really won't work, I've got a clone of myself ready to take my place and I've actually told all of my armed forces to shoot even if I'm held hostage."

"Do we need a firepower demonstration to intimidate you into submission?"

"Nothing scares me." Ripper answered defiantly

"Fine then, Everyone inside, ready a full broad side 16in salvo!" The captain ordered as everyone got inside to the safety of the ship.

"What do we do now captain?" Asked Lenny

There was silence for a few minutes. "We...

*BANG BANG BANG* All four turrets fired a synchronized three gun salvo right over the ice ship, the shock wave produced by the guns caused the ice ship to move, knocking everyone about and pulling against the cables which managed to keep it from breaking away, everyones ears felt like they just imploded and hurt like hell, and the only thing they could hear for several minutes was a high pitched ringing sound. "MY EARS, MY EARS!" The captain shouted in pain. After several minutes went by everyone could hear again and the battleships crew came back out.

"Care to release him now?"

"NO!"

Meanwhile below deck, everyone else was recovering from the shock as well, everyone was terrified, except Buck, he'd been around guns and explosions before with William and he was confident that whatever made that incredibly loud bang belonged to William, so he felt that it was time rebel against the pirates. "ATTENTION!" He screamed as loud as he could, and everyone froze in place and focused all their attention on the one eyed weasel. "I think tha wot ever made tha loud noise is our best chance fo' escape, there fo' I say its time fo' us TO FREE OURSELVES!"

He was greeted by cheers and applause as everyone went and pushed against the bars that kept them in, they broke and suddenly every mammal in there led by Buck charged up onto the main deck as the pirates looked back and were tackled by a bunch small mammals. They tried to fight back but everything was so sudden, most of the crew was taken down and tied up within minutes, except for the captain, Oscar, and Lenny. The crew on the battleship watched completely stunned, they weren't quite sure what was going on or what to do.

Buck decided to go for the captain, who was still holding William, who looked even more surprised than the captain, at knife point while Emily, Crystal, and Fang and everyone else dealt with the sabers "Oi, captin!" He shouted angrily

"Oh look, the little one eyed weasel thinks he can take me on." He cooed mockingly.

"My names Buck, and I don't think I can take ya on, I know I can."

The captain then threw William and his knife to the ground, leaving him dazed and confused, as he pulled out a bone sword. "Bring it."

Buck charged at the giant ape who brought the sword down onto the ice, almost hitting Buck who leapt onto his chest and quickly crawled onto his back while Ripper accidentally clawed himself trying to get the annoying weasel off. Then Buck noticed Williams knife embedded in the ice of the ship and decided to retrieve it and use it against the captain, he very quickly jumped off the captains back and using all his strength managed to pull the knife out of the ice, and just in time to block an attack by Ripper with his sword, who growled angrily. "You really think you have a chance against me in a duel?" He bellowed.

"Yep." The two then clashed again and engaged in a duel, the captain using his immense strength while Buck used his speed and agility, jumping around, dodging blow after blow, but he couldn't quite get close enough to do any damage.

Meanwhile, William was coming back to his senses, his entire body aching in pain. "God, what happened?" He then saw the battle that was going on around him and very quickly ran across the harpoon cables to the battleship.

"Sir, are you ok?" The captain asked with concern.

"Just a slight cut and some bruises."

"Should we leave or do you want us to wait?"

_Leave em._

We wait, those smaller mammals were imprisoned by the pirates because they were viewed by them as inferior, when the battle is over let them on board and leave the pirates, and prepare the cafeteria with food and water, I don't think they were fed to often."

"Understood sir." Then Williams mind began to cause pain again and it showed. "Sir, are you ok?"

"Just... fine, I need to be alone." He then ran off to hide in his personal quarters.

Back on board the pirate ship, the battle raged on, the sabers were beginning to lose to the horde of smaller mammals but the fight between Buck and Ripper was still in a stalemate as they continued to block and dodge each others attacks, but soon Buck found an opportunity to do some damage and he ceased it, as he outmaneuvered Ripper and hit him in the side with his knife, the ape howled in pain but soon struck back when he pulled the weasel off him and sent him and his knife flying into the mast, knocking the wind out of him. As he slowly regained his senses he saw that the captain was right on top of him.

"Prepare to die weasel." But before he moved in to make the kill he felt a sharp pain in his back.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" Emily growled angrily as she thrust a knife she took from a pirate into his back, but the captain just simply threw her off his back, sending her crashing hard against the icy floor, he then decided she would be the first he'd kill.

"EMILY!" Buck then got back up and charge at the ape and stabbed him in the back in an area were he would be difficult to get. Ripper began to move about randomly, trying to get the annoying weasel off him, but others began to join in against the captain as the sabers had been defeated. Crystal and Fang climbed up the mast a grabbed a very strong vine and then quickly went back down and stretched it out in front of Ripper, who was to occupied with fighting Buck that he didn't notice until it was to late as he tripped over it and fell, and before he could get up he was swarmed and tied up with the rest of his crew.

"HOW DARE YOU LITTLE RATS DO THIS, I'LL HAVE MY REVENGE!" He shouted before one mammal came up and punched him hard in the face, knocking him out.

Meanwhile Buck ran over to Emily and picked her up in his arms. "Emily, are ya alright?"

Emily responded with a groan. "What happened?"

"Oh thank goodness ya alright." He said as he hugged her. "We won, and thanks fo' savin my life."

"I wasn't about let him kill the only person who loves me for who I am." Buck then helped her up and the two went and boarded the massive battleship with everyone else.


	8. Chapter 8

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios.

* * *

On board BMS Exterminator everyone who had been rescued from the pirates were finally getting something to eat for the first time in days. Everyone was surprised by how hospitable and friendly these humans were and equally surprised by just how good their food was. However Crystal didn't eat too much as she was still worried about William, so after a brief meal she decided to go look for him, but since she didn't know her way around the ship or where he could be on the gigantic vessel she decided to ask one of the humans. "Excuse me, mister?"

"Yes."

"Would you by chance know where I could find William?"

"You mean the grand admiral?"

"Yes."

"Did he ask for you, or does he know you?"

"He knows me."

"He is most likely to be found either in his quarters or on the bridge, follow me, we shall try his quarters first." The man lead her through several hallways until they finally came to a hall that had several wooden doors instead of the usual steel ones, and they could hear screaming and yelling.

"EAT THIS!" A voice shouted, followed by several loud bangs. "OH S**T!" They could then hear the sound of something very rapidly bouncing around the room.

"What on earth?" The man asked confused, and when he opened the door to Williams personal cabin he found a weasel ducking underneath a coffee table as three bullets bounced about the room until they finally stopped, the man had no clue what was going on.

"Oh dear, whats gotten in to him?" Crystal said, even more worried than before

"Is that really the admiral?"

"Yep."

"Okay, I'm just going to walk away and forget what I just saw, if you want to try to see whats wrong with him, then knock yourselves out." The man said as he left.

"OH MY GOD ANOTHER ONE!" William screamed as he quickly got onto the table and pick up a very large looking weapon (for a small mammal) and fired a shot at the wall, sending a bullet flying at it, but when it hit it reflected towards the ceiling, then another wall, then the floor, then the ceiling, and so on as it bounced around the room sending William ducking for cover again until it finally stopped.

"William?" She called out softly, catching his attention.

"Crystal, what are you doing here, I thought you'd be in the cafeteria."

"Well I decided to come over to make sure you were okay, considering how you were when we saw each other just the other day."

"Well things haven't been.. OH MY GOD ANOTHER!" *BANG BANG BANG* William fired at the wall again and then quickly took cover back under the table as three bullets bounced around the room. Crystal took cover in the hall to avoid being hit and came back in when she could no longer hear the rattling noise of the bullets hitting the steel walls, ceiling, and floor underneath the carpet.

"What are you shooting at, I didn't see anything?"

"Theres these masked gunmen trying to get me, every time I shoot at them though, they disappear, only to come back seconds later." Then William heard another voice.

"P_repare to suffer!"_

"WHO SAID THAT!?"

"Who said what?"

"Something just told me to prepare to suffer, but it wasn't the voice inside my head, though it did sound somewhat similar." Then he heard a voice he hadn't heard outside his dreams in a very long time.

_"William."_

"Father, is that you?" He then could see his father, though Crystal couldn't.

"William, who are you talking to?" Asked Crystal, but William payed no attention.

"What do you mean your disappointed in me, what could I have done?... What do you mean running the company improperly?"

"Uh, I'm going to go get Buck, maybe he'll know how to fix this." Again William continued to pay no attention as Crystal went back to the cafeteria to get Buck.

In the cafeteria, Buck was introducing Emily to human foods, which she was finding to be surprisingly delicious. "So, wot do ya think of 'uman food?"

"Its fantastic, I've never had anything so delicious." Then Crystal came over with her news.

"Buck, William is acting very... strange."

"'ow so?"

"When I first got to him he was randomly shooting at his wall claiming that there was some sort of gunman trying to get him, then he started talking to this... father thing, and staring of into space in disbelief, as if something was there, I've never seen anything like it."

"I'm all to familiar with this, 'e's hallucinating, 'e's seeing things tha aren't really there, I better go and try to fix tha before 'e 'urts or even kills 'imself."

"Would he do that?"

"Maybe, knowing 'is scarred past."

"What scarred past, he never told me anything that would even hint at it."

"'e doesn't like to talk about it, 'e 'ad 'is parents murdered right in front of 'im when 'e was a child, and spent the rest of 'is child 'ood alone, so yeah, 'e'd probably try to kill 'imself if 'is insanity drove 'im to do it, and I also think its why 'e can be so defensive and willing to sacrifice 'imself."

"Poor thing, I can't imagine what it would be like to lose both parents at such a young age, losing my mother was hard enough for me, if I had lost my father to, I don't know what I would of done, I guess that does explain a lot about his mental condition."

"Yep, so we should probly get going, Emily, would ya like to come or would ya feel safer in 'ere, though admittedly I'd prefer you stay in 'ere."

"I'd like to come, I actually want to meet this William character that you told me about in your stories."

"Ok, so Crystal, you remember were William is?"

"Yes I do, follow me." They followed Crystal Back to Williams room, and when they got there, things were really going down hill.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW THE AMOUNT OF PAIN I WENT THROUGH AFTER YOUR AND MOMS DEATH, OR WHAT ITS LIKE TO LIVE ALL ALONE FOR MOST OF YOUR LIFE!?" William wailed.

"Tha's definitely a hallucination, 'e must think tha 'e's talkin to 'is parents."

"Father, Father were are you, where did you.. YOU, WHY ARE YOU HERE!?" William yelled at a lamp. "SO YOU THOUGHT THAT YOU COULD KILL MY PARENTS AND THEN COME BACK YEARS LATER AND TRY TO KILL ME WITHOUT A FIGHT, WELL YOUR WRONG!" William then pounced on the lamp, knocking it off the table and began to beat and claw at it, but then he hit the light bulb, and he screamed in pain as pieces of glass got stuck in his flesh. "AHHHHHHH F**K F**K F**K!" By know Crystal and Buck had seen enough and decided to intervene.

"WILLIAM!" They both yelled, snapping him out f his hallucination.

"Who, what, weres Rick, he was just here, and... Buck, W-W-What a surprise, I-I didn't expect you to come by for a visit." William answered nervously, holding his bloody paw close to his body.

"William, we need to talk."

"I-I-If its about that other day I-I-I can explain, i-it wasn't me, it was m-my other self, I didn't really want to turn against you like that but it persuaded me to, and-and... I'm so sorry." He finally admitted as the guilt and pain finally overwhelmed him and tears welled up in his eyes. "I'm so very very sorry, my mind has been driveing me insane an influencing my decisions, please forgive me, I'll do anything, I should of never said what I said or of done what I did and... and... I'm so sorry!"

"William calm down, I know wot ya goin through, I use to 'ave voices in my 'ead to, actually, I think they still speak to me from time to time, but no' as much as they use to, but to take care of those voices ya first need to be confident with ya self, stop doubting ya self, tha only makes it stronger."

"Are... Are you trying to help me?"

"Yes."

"Why, you should hate me after what I did, besides, you deserve better than me."

"William, ya no' a bad person like ya think ya are, ya the smartest, bravest, most loyal, most selfless person I've ever met, remember 'ow ya risked ya life fo' mine when Rudy 'ad me cornered against tha rock and ya pushed me out the way and 'ow ya almost ended up in 'is stomach, or when I was nearly swarmed by raptors and badly injured and ya came to my aid, fighting off the remaining raptors, and then devoted all of ya time nursin me back to 'ealth, William, fo' everything ya've done fo' me, I can't stay mad at ya fo'ever, and now tha I know wot caused ya to turn on me, it makes it easier fo' me to fo'give ya, and I will also say tha I do think ya were right, I did some thinking and I realized that it was my fault tha my wife died and tha we almost died when everything began to fall apart, if I 'ad listened to ya tha wouldn't of 'appened, but ya still shouldn't of insulted my wife and I, but I still fo'give ya, but right now I jus' want to 'elp ya with ya other self, I too 'ave 'ad my other self try to take control of me and I can 'elp ya with yours."

"Really, you-you forgive me?"

"Yes, I fo'give ya."

_Don't listen to him, he's lieing._

"Oh thank you so much, how can I ever thank you?" William said as he embraced Buck in a hug, but quickly retracted when even the slightest touch on his wounded paw sent pain surging through it. AHHHHHH, MY HAND!"

"William, ya paw, we need to get tha treated."

"Call the medic." He said through clenched teeth.

"'ow?"

"That intercom right there, press the button with the red cross."

"Crystal, can ya press the button with the red cross?"

"Sure thing." Crystal then climbed up a dresser next to the intercom and pressed the button.

"Calling ship doctor." It announced.

"Do ya 'ave anything in 'ere to cover ya paw?"

"Get a paper towel, and wet it in the sink."

"Emily, could ya get a paper towel and wet it in the sink?"

"What are paper towels and sinks?"

"Paper towels are those rolled up white things over there and the sink is the shiny thing right next to them."

"Oh, ok, got it."

"Whos Emily?" William asked.

"I'll tell ya later."

Emily meanwhile went over and climbed up the sink and pulled out a paper towel. "How do I turn the sink on?"

"Turn the round thing." Emily then did just that and much to her surprise, water suddenly came out of it, she'd never seen anything like it, but quickly snapped herself out of it and wet the towel and brought it over to Buck who wrapped it around Williams bloody paw to help keep it clean. Soon they could hear foot steps coming from the hall .

"How might I be of service Admiral.. OH MY GOD!" The doctor said, shocked to find four small mammals in the admirals personal quarters. "Out, all of you, this is not your room!"

"Yes it is... I am the admiral, and my paw needs treatment right now." William said, still through clenched teeth, making him sound very angry.

"Theres no way you could be the admiral, he's human, not a weasel."

"Then how do you explain this?" William said, raising his other arm that had the no longer functioning shape shifter on it. "Admiral/Doctor/General William Johnson is the only one who has one of these, and I take numerous precautions to make sure that I'm the only one who has one, and I make sure that it stays that it stays that way, therefore, I am Admiral Johnson."

"Ok, you've convinced me, so whats happened to your... paw?"

"Its cut up pretty bad, and there are shards of glass still stuck in my flesh and it HURTS LIKE HELL!"

"Ok ok, calm down, let me just take you down to the medical bay so I can treat your wound." The doctor the very gently picked William up and carried down to the medical bay.


	9. Chapter 9

Ice Age and its characters are property of Blue Sky Studios

* * *

While William was having his paw treated in the medical bay, Buck, Emily, and Crystal past the time watching TV. William had tought Buck how to operate them and once introduced to the world of cinema he became quite fond of action and adventure films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park, and he decided to show Emily and Crystal some of these movies too, and they were amazed.

"Wow, are there like, tiny people in that... flat boxy-ish thing?" Emily asked.

"I don't think so."

"Then how does that work, if there isn't anyone inside it then how does it work?" Crystal asked.

"Its like a moving picture but I 'ave no idea 'ow it works, even when William explained it to me all I 'erd was a bunch of big worded future babble." Then they could hear Williams voice as he made his way down the hall and into the room, he was arguing with himself again.

"Will you just shut up already, you won't be able to convince me that your right, having the world under one country is, at least not in short term, would be beneficial to everyone, it wold probably be hundreds of years and millions, if not billions of live lost until everyone is fine with it, so I'm going to tell you again, YOU ARE NOT TAKING CONTROL!"

"Ya mind still messin with ya?"

"Annoyingly yes."

"'ow bout ya paw?"

"Very soar, but no longer bleeding, all the glass is out, and it doesn't hurt as much, I will need to keep it wrapped up for three or four days though, and again, I'm so sorry for what I did, I will never forgive myself for it."

"William, ya need to stop thinkin like tha, Ya pain, guilt, self doubt, and sometimes even ya anger 'elps make tha second mind of yours more powerful."

"But its my fault my parents died, and furthermore they're... ashamed of me."

"And who said tha."

"My minds been telling me that my parents death is all my fault since I was little and my father recently came back and said that he was disappointed in me in that I'm running the company improperly, that I spend too much time with... you, and that I either should of died with him and mother or avenged them."

"William, theres nothin ya could of done to prevent they're death, but it wasn't ya fault, tha's jus' ya mind tryin to get to ya, and I'm pretty sure this father figure ya saw earlier was a hallucination, and it was really jus' ya mind talkin"

"I was actually with you when you started talking to your... father, and I saw nothing." Crystal added in.

"Ya need to have more confidence in ya self and let go of ya past, theres nothin ya can do about it, unless ya can go back to the time it 'appened and stop it, can ya?"

"I could but it would mess up the timeline and thats something I really don't like to mess with, I mean, they were powerful and influential people, and when you mess with that the repercussions can be massive, and my younger self would see my current, older self, and I might see my younger self, which I think could also be bad."

"Then in tha case theres nothin ya can do, and I bet ya tha everything ya mind was tellin ya was false."

"You do?"

"Yep, I doubt ya parents would of wanted ya to die, and I bet they're proud of ya fo' succeeding them and, didn't ya tell me tha ya either our right invented or played a major part in the invention of something?"

"Yes, I invented that eco friendly oil product alternative that all things that run on oil products can run on, that point laser defense anti missile system, and that substance that greatly speeds up healing, I made all those discoverys in the dinosaur world which made most of those inventions of mine as well as numerous other scientific breakthroughs and inventions/products, and I've turned Black Mesa into both a military and economic super power, and a few other things that I can't quite think of right now."

"I'm sure ya parents would be proud of ya, I mean, I don't think those are small accomplishments, though tha other bit I'm unsure about."

William stood were he was, thinking about everything Buck just told him. _Could he have a point, I have had hallucinations before and I don't remember mom and dad being like my mind portrays them, and I have been successful with my inventions/discoverys and keeping the company running strong, which would disprove everything my minds been telling me._

_No it doesn't, stop listening to him, he says nothing but lies!_

_You shut up, besides, I appear to be regaining my control over you... which must mean that so far Bucks right, but should I let go of my past, I don't want to do that until I know that my forces have either killed or captured Rick, but there hasn't been any trace of him, heck he could of already been killed by someone or something else._ William stood there, considering weather or not he should let go of his past. _Mom, Dad, I'm letting go, if you think I'm doing the wrong thing then please forgive me, I just can't take this pain any longer._ He was then brought back to reality by a snapping sound.

"William snap out of it, is something wrong?"

"Wait what... whats going on?"

"Ya been starin into blank space fo' several minutes and I was wondering if somethin was wrong."

"Oh, nothings wrong, I was just thinking."

"About wot?"

"What you just told me, I'm gonna try to put my past behind me and feel better about myself."

"There ya go, I 'ope wot I've told ya will 'elp, and if ya other mind continues to bother ya then jus' let me know and I'll see wot else I can do."

William eyes then began to water as he gave Buck another hug. "Thank you, you're the best friend a guy could ask for, why did I try to throw it away?"

"Its alright lad, we all make mistakes and do things we later regret."

"Awwww." Cooed Emily and Crystal, prompting Buck and William to quickly separate.

"W-W-What did we do?" William asked a bit confused and embarrassed."

"You two are so cute when you hug." Crystal replied.

"Cute?" Buck asked, a bit confused and embarrassed himself.

"Excuse me, I need to go blow something up now to make feel manlier." Said William as he left the room and half an hour later they heard the same incredibly loud bang from earlier, though it was a bit muffled, and minutes later a very excited William returned. "AW F**K YEAH, YOU COULD OF SEEN IT, THE GUNS WERE LIKE BANG, BANG, BANG, AND THEN THE ICEBERGS WERE LIKE KABOOM AND IT WAS FRIKIN AWESOME!... And thats why I love battleships." He finished, instantly going back to his calm, civilized self as Emily edged over to Buck.

"Is he always like that?" She asked.

"'e can be at times, and so can I, I 'ope tha doesn't bother ya."

"Not at all, its just a bit odd."

"Oh, tha reminds me, William, I'd like ya to meet Emily, my girlfriend."

"Oh, got your self a girlfriend already, you lucky dog." He said, giving Buck a pat on the back.

"I though you said he was a civilized gentlemen." Whispered Emily.

"Uh, thats right, William, aren't ya fo'getting slomethin"?

"Oh yes, sorry about that, I'm still a bit hyper after blowing up some ice bergs, Dr. William Johnson, a pleasure to meet you madam." William said, extending his paw for a shake, which Emily took.

"So you're the one whos been on all these adventures with Buck?"

"Yep, we've been through a lot together, hostile people, battling dinosaurs, escaping near death situations, numerous injurys, etcetera, etcetera, and yes, we did battle dinosaurs, I'm not making that up."

"I know your not, Buck told me everything, and I'm convinced that its real."

"Oh William, I jus remembered, I do believe this is yours." Buck said, handing William his knife back.

"Its ok, you can keep it."

"But its yours, ya claimed it when ya made your escape from Rudy."

"Yes but I feel that I owe you, and you lost your knife in the continental drift, so I think you should have it."

"Ya sure about this?"

"Yes."

"Okay, if you insist."

"So thats what Rudys teeth were like?" Asked Emily.

"Yep, big aren't they?"

"Wow, and you two often fought that monster." She said completely awe struck.

"Yep, we 'ad many run ins with ol snowflake, but we could take 'im."

"Speaking of opponents with big teeth, I just had a crazy idea."

"Oh really, can I 'ear it."

"Shark wrestling!"

"Sounds incredibly dangerous... I like it."

"Shark wrestling, are you two mad?" Crystal asked, concerned about their safety, but also a bit amused with how ridiculous the idea was.

"Yes, yes we are." Buck replied nonchalantly, but then they heard a voice over the intercom.

"Admiral Johnson, we think we just found something that you might want to see."

"Alright, I'll be up in a minute, well I better go see what they found." William then went back up to the bridge. "Ok, so what is it you want me to see?"

"We've spotted a vessel made of ice packed full of animals."

"Are they pirates?"

"Doubt it, theres to many of them on that vessel for it to be pirates, we think they might be refugees from the whole continental drift."

"Let me see, have any binoculars I can use?" One of the crew members then held a pair of binoculars in front of him. "Thank you, now lets see what we've got. He noticed there were indeed a lot of animals on board and the vessel was several miles away, but then one of them caught his eyes when he zoomed in closer. "Is that... Many... and Ellie... and... the entire herd... it has to be, set course for that ice ship, I want to pull up right next to it."

"As you wish." The colossal warship then began to slowly turn towards the ice ship as William went back to his quarters to tell Buck.

"Hey Buck, guess who I think we just found?"

"Who?"

"The herd, there a few miles off on an ice ship."

"I wonder wot there doin out 'ere."

"Probably has something to do with the continental drift."

"Who is this herd you speak of?"

"Oh, its a group of animals we're friends with, 3 mammoths, 2 possums, a saber, and a sloth." Replied William. Emily just looked at him funny.

"Did you say saber?"

"Yes."

"How does a saber get along with mammoths, possums, and a sloth, in fact, why are all those species together in one group?"

"Diegos no' a cold blooded killer like most sabers, now 'ow they all became one big family, I think it'd be best fo' them to explain, we are going over to greet them right?"

"Yep."

"Whos Diego?"

"The saber." William answered.

"Ok, I have no idea what any of these creatures you just mentioned are, do they live in that world above the ice?" Asked Crystal.

"Yes, you'll get to see what their like very soon, you'll like them, their some of the nicest people you'll ever meet, why don't we go ahead and make our way to the front of the ship to greet them?"

"Ok." Replied Buck.

"Why not?" Replied Emily.

"I should probably go get Fang, he's probably wondering where I am, or he could still be stuffing himself with food, We'll meet you there." And so everyone left the room and prepared to greet the herd.


End file.
